Color of Sunshine
by Jhen6996
Summary: Without warning, the blond stranger Edward mentioned turned around, and she met a man with a pair of azure gentle eyes - A Carlisle/Esme romance set in 19th century.
1. Azure Sky

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**Color of Sunshine  
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- All the characters belong to Stephenie Meyer -

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__Chapter 1: _Azure Sky_

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The ballroom was filled with people. Sweet melody was provided continuously in the evening; it accompanied dancers in the room perfectly. _But I should not be there._ Esme thought. She was standing by a pillar, looked at the people dancing in front of her. Esme loved dancing, but she wasn't in the mood; actually, she was a bit guilty now.

Her father was furious that she had rejected Charles Evenson's, as her father called, _glorious proposal_, therefore she cleverly chose to visit her cousins and spend this summer being in Masen's to avoid her extremely angry father. Esme sighed deeply; she would be in Masen's until her father calmed down.

After all, both of her cousins, Edward and Alice, were happy with her visit.

She felt guilty that she had angered her father, yet she did not regret rejecting Charles at all, though; since she was a little girl, Esme had decided to marry a man she truly admired and loved – Until now, that person had not appeared in her life yet.

"Esme."

She lifted up her head, seeing her cousin walking toward her. A good-looking boy with red-brown hair was grinning at her. Esme smiled back at her little cousin.

"Look what you are doing now. You should dance with someone." He frowned playfully.

"Edward, now you sound like my father," she teased. The boy rolled his eyes at her; a small gentle grin appeared on his charming face.

"Just enjoy yourself here, Esme." He gave her a charming, childlike smile, and looked around the room, as if looking for a particular person. Noticing her confusion, Edward grinned in a teasing way. "I've wanted you to meet a friend of mine for a long time."

She frowned. What Edward said was just the same words her father had muttered when Charles was introduced to her. "Wait, Edward, I am not -"

"Ah, I saw him. See? He's over there," Edward said smiling.

She turned and found the man Edward mentioned.

He was a tall, blond man, dressed in the latest fashions. He was talking to a younger man with light blonde hair, but he turned around gracefully as Edward called him from where they were. The blond stranger seemed to be a little confused, however, he smiled when he saw Edward, and he turned his face slightly to look at her.

The first thing came into Esme's eyes was the color of sunshine. She blinked rapidly to adjust the light, and then she now found herself facing a man with ridiculously handsome face. Forehead, nose, cheeks, lips - everything on his face was the best object for a painter to practice drawing. Staring at people was not favorable at all, but she could not help herself staring at him. Without warning, their eyes locked. Esme was shocked to notice how azure his eyes were; they were kind and gentle, yet fierce and blue-color-flame-like at the same time. She even didn't know herself was holding breath, until the man smiled tentatively at her and she gasped inwardly.

She quickly looked away and flushed slightly.

"Carlisle, why are you standing here with that silly grin on your face? Drank too much already? "Edward questioned impatiently, clearly displeased that his friend still stood away from them. He walked to his friend and dragged him toward her. His friend was murmuring something lowly she wasn't able to hear. Edward humphed and rolled his eyes for the reason Esme didn't know. "Come and see my cousin!"

The man, Edward introduced him as Carlisle Cullen, was standing shyly beside Edward, a naturally gentle smile on his face, and his extremely shy manners had already amused her.

"It's nice meeting you, Mr. Cullen," She greeted politely.

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Platt,"he said to her in a silken, soft voice. To her astonishment, Mr. Cullen took her hand and pressed it to his lips, making her skin tingle. Out of the corner of her eye, Esme found Edward stare at them with amusement.

She gave him a little, brilliant smile, and Mr. Cullen returned the same favor.

"Edward has told me about you for many times," he said shyly, looking at her in awe. His beautiful gaze made her blush slightly. She turned to her cousin who was smiling innocently.

"I hope you didn't said anything that would make me embarrassed." She glared suspiciously at him.

Her cousin sighed dramatically. "I'm disappointed at you Esme. What kind of person do you think I am?"

"A five-year-old soul in a seventeen-year-old body?" She teased. Mr. Cullen chuckled; his laugh was endearing.

"Edward told me you're a good dancer and painter, and..." Mr. Cullen smiled, then cleared his throat almost awkwardly, he bit his lips shyly, paused for a while. "And _charming_, which I found it's a truth."

The color in her cheeks deepened. She looked down at the floor; for reasons unknown, Esme felt something utterly indescribable dancing sensuously between them, crawling upon her heart and making her spin. Her cheeks heated, and Esme wondered why. Many people had mentioned her beauty before, but no one made her feel like burning. Edward cleared his throat purposely. The sound Edward made jolted her awake from the dream-like wonderland.

Esme was slightly irritated that the boy was smirking lazily now, his eyes were full of annoying interests.

"Carlisle said he wanted to meet you, and don't you dare chase my cousin like those brainless ones, Carlisle."

"Don't be silly, Edward," he murmured blushed.

"Ah, a teacher should not use 'silly' to describe his student, Carlisle." Edward explained, unable to hide his smirk. "He was my teacher before, a rather good one." He said to her.

"Please don't mention it again; that's the memory I desperately want to forget." Mr. Cullen glared at her cousin. "You were the most difficult student I had never met before."

"My pleasure." Edward grinned impishly.

Just then, a new song had started. Edward excused himself and walked to his partner, a brown hair pretty girl. Mr. Cullen seemed to struggle inwardly for a while, and then politely asked her to spare him a dance. Esme smiled; they danced for the rest of the evening.

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**~ ※ ~**

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Meeting Mr. Cullen was a lovely memory. From what Edward told her, Carlisle Cullen worked as an interpreter and translator for the Masens to extend business into France. Although Esme hoped to talk with him again, she didn't see him after the ball. Still, Esme enjoyed being here quite a lot, and the thought of meeting Carlisle Cullen once more was fading day by day.

Beautiful sky was above her head, letting sheer sunlight peer out from the cloud and make the little yellow flowers glow happily; it was a wonderful afternoon for people to have a cup of tea outside the house - or for Alice Masen, it would be a nice day to _decorate_ her cousin with a variety of different kinds of dresses and accessories.

Esme loved Alice with all her heart, but when it came to the issue of being Alice's personal doll, she would run away from that little fairy faster than a wild horse running out of a stable. For the peace of her mind, Esme now was trying to climb a tree which is planted in the backyard of the house. She rolled her sleeves up and picked up the hem of her dress a bit higher, confidently taking her first step on the trunk of a tree, and second, and third. The higher she climbed, the broader her grin grew.

"Miss Platt?" Someone said shocked.

Esme stopped and was startled by that velvet gentle voice. She nearly fell from the tree; fortunately she clenched the branch quickly. A sharp tearing sound occurred as she was struggling to keep steady. Esme looked down at the person who called from below, and was startled again.

Her cheeks grew strangely warm. It was Carlisle Cullen.

And the questions were:_ Why was he here? Moreover, why he chose one of the most awkward time visiting here? And finding her climbing a silly tree!_

He was trying to suppress his laugh, she could see that from his trembling cheeks.

"Let me help you." He offered his hand kindly.

"...Thank you," she barely heard her own voice.

He chuckled then, reaching his hand to help her climb down that trouble maker. His gorgeous blue eyes were shinning like two twinkling stars, looking at her with curiosity. She couldn't help but smile back at him._ His hand was still holding hers_. And it was warm and strong and…...Before Esme could find a word describe that fleeting feeling, suddenly Mr. Cullen drew back his hand.

"Thank you." She said again softly.

He nodded looking down at her; to her confusion, a smirk crossed his handsome face. "If you don't mind, I'm rather curious about what you were doing here."

She bit her lips, not sure if it was proper to tell the truth. But then, as she looked up at him, finding him seem to be highly amused by her strange talent of climbing trees, Esme thought that maybe telling him was not a bad idea at all. She cleared her throat intentionally, to which, Mr. Cullen raised his eyebrows. She giggled at his reaction. Maybe that was one of a teacher's habits, she thought.

"Yes?"

"….Well, I was just….just…." Now Esme wondered why she was stuttering. She never had that problem in front of men, even when Charles in his bad mood. "I was hiding from Alice, and I supposed climbing up a tree would be a good idea….clearly it is not, though." She sighed touching her ruined dress.

He laughed then. "I won't doubt that you and Edward are related anymore; he's good at climbing trees as well, too good. But of course for different reason. He was hiding from _me_."

"Why?"

"As you have heard before; I was his French teacher. He hated that and tried his best to hide from me. I had to spent much time on finding him before teaching."

A vivid scene of a frustrated Carlisle chasing Edward crossed her mind; Esme couldn't help but laugh at the thought. They walked silently in the backyard until the sunlight became light yellow. Unable to bear the silence anymore, Esme looked up at him, and froze; he was staring at her, looked slightly dazzled. He was twice startled than her as he noticed that she caught his staring.

"Forgive me, I didn't mean to stare at you like that," he looked away quickly, a little embarrassed by his own behavior. "You reminded me of the angel painting in Mr. Masen's library."

She was stunned, and lowered her head smiling.

After hearing his shy confession, Esme could not form a comprehensible sentence for the rest of the walk. They came back to the house under the sunset. As a gentleman he was, Mr. Cullen bid farewell to her softly before leaving. Esme stopped him as he was about to turn away.

"Will I see you again?" She asked biting her lip.

Mr. Cullen seemed to be surprised by her innocent question. After several blinks, he smiled weakly at her.

"...Yes, I have some things need to discuss with Edward."

His simple, quiet answer made the butterflies inside her stomach fluster all over again

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><p><strong>AN: Finally! Here comes the time without reports and presentations! I love summer! And yes, I've wanted to write a story like this for a while, please bare with me LOL. It won't be too long though, just one or two more chapters and it'll be finished. Hope you enjoyed it :)  
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	2. Lavender Violet

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**Color of Sunshine**

- All the characters belong to Stephenie Meyer -

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_Lavender Violet_

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_I lied_. Carlisle thought in shame. The words had repeated in his head like a disturbing song for at least a week. He definitely had nothing to discuss with Edward, unless he wanted to discuss how to deal with his romantic feeling toward Miss Platt, a cousin of Edward's, and Edward probably would hunt him down and wipe him out with bare hands. Carlisle thought it'd be better for his own good to keep quiet.

But still, he came here every day just in order to meet _Esme Platt._ It had been a week since he did that.

Once Carlisle had considered himself not the kind of person who believed 'Love at first sight' thing – obviously he was wrong then. Well, maybe it wasn't proper to call it 'Love at first sight', after all, he had heard a lot about the mysterious Miss Platt before meeting her. He knew Edward and Alice loved her dearly; he knew Miss Platt lived in Canterbury and had a passion for dancing and painting. He became rather curious about Miss Platt as he saw the way Edward's and Alice's eyes lit up when they mentioned her - God knew how difficult it was to gain their love and fondness.

And eventually he had met her. She was more lovely and pleasant and full of life than he had imagined, shinning like delicate star under the artificial light. He nervously asked her to dance with him, and she smiled reaching her hand out to him. Her hands were too small and too soft compared to his. During the dance, Carlisle wondered why she didn't startled by the burning heat he felt between them.

The mere thought of her bothered him and made his heart beat faster and faster.

He should stop thinking of her.

For the safety of his life, of course he had many reasons to convince himself not to think of Miss Platt. First of all, she was Edward's cousin. He knew very well that Edward was protective of his younger sister (Carlisle did not miss the way Edward tensed whenever Jasper Whitlock being too close to his beloved sister); it wouldn't surprise him if Edward was protective of his favorite cousin as well. _Don't you dare chase her like those brainless ones!_ Edward had said to him playfully. Carlisle considered those words as a typical Edward style warning. He knew the boy too well. And second, apparently Miss Platt was not very interested in marriage, thanked to Charles Evenson.

But he also had the same amount of objections to those reasons.

First, Carlisle was quite sure he was not brainless; he had a brain, a rather good one with a wide range of knowledge. In addition, he was a close friend of Edward's; his bronze-hair friend knew him well enough to understand that he and Charles Evenson, whose favorite activity was to boast about his own fortune, were opposite. He was a quiet and composed man with interests in art and languages. If they had the same interests to talk about, then perhaps one day he would be able to melt her heart. Perhaps one day she would fall in love with him.

Wait.

Dear Lord, did he just use the word '_Love_'_ ?_

Carlisle blinked blindly for several times, completely shocked by his choice of words. So he was in love with Miss Platt, he supposed. There was no any other explanation for his strange feelings. Twenty three years had passed after his birth, he finally met a lady who caught his eyes and heart. He decided to court her with his best efforts.

Therefore he continued visiting _Edward_ and meeting _Miss Platt_.

And he talked about _weather_ with Edward and talked about _some things_ with Miss Platt.

Carlisle wondered how soon Edward would find out his true motive, and how fast he would be shed into pieces after Edward found that.

"You look awfully serious, Carlisle. What's bothering you?"

He literaturely jumped at the voice. Carlisle looked up from the book held by his hands. A giggling Alice Masen was standing in front of him. She was staring at him with green, childlike eyes. The mischievous grin appeared on her angelic face and that grin made him extremely anxious. How long had she stood here? He even didn't notice her coming; he was too into his private thoughts.

"Nothing particular," he replied softly.

Alice raised her eyebrows suspiciously, clearly didn't believe him at all.

"Just thinking about how to promote our products." He added.

"Hm, I see." Alice stifled a laugh. The little girl was good at observing, sometimes even better than her brother. He had to change the dangerous subject quickly.

"I thought you would accompany Mr. Whitlock this afternoon."

"Yes, I did. We were talking about fashions, but Edward interrupted us rudely. Now they are talking about car-making thing," Alice made a face, came toward him and settled herself on the sofa opposite him. "Not my interest."

He chuckled as he took his cup of tea. At some point, Edward had rescued poor Mr. Whitlock. Talking about fashions with Alice could be a torture sometimes. The girl with black hair took some sweets and sighed happily. They enjoyed themselves quietly for a while until the silver-bell-like voice from Alice broke the silence.

"Edward told me something interesting happened at the ball."

"And what was that?" He asked absently.

"Something about you," Alice said innocently.

Carlisle choked on his tea and coughed.

"What did he say?" He asked almost fearfully. Miss Masen smirked.

"He said you wore an entertaining head-struck grin on your face the whole evening, probably would scare most of the ladies away. He was impressed Esme didn't run away from you as quickly as she could. He was proud of her."

Christ. Did he do that so obviously? Carlisle buried his face in the hands and groaned inwardly. His face was burning. Had Edward already known about his affection for Miss Platt? No, he didn't think so, or Edward wouldn't allow him to be here and keep breathing in the world. The boy probably just wanted to make fun of him. The thought had Carlisle calm down slightly.

Alice cleared her throat; he looked up at her nervously. She smiled.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to help Esme decorate her room." Alice stood up and winked at him adorably. "She's planning to decorate her room with her favorite violets. You know, it will take a whole afternoon to do that."

The little fairy disappeared soundlessly, leaving him alone in the front room.

_Violets. She loves violets._The imagination of Miss Platt with a bunch of subdued color flowers trapped in his thought for the rest of the peaceful day. He sat on the sofa with a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips until sunset, and a confused Jasper Whitlock came into the front room and asked whatever made him smile like a little child who had just received his most desired gift. Carlisle kept that secret sort of smile and said nothing to him.

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**~ ※ ~**

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He had never felt like this way before. Nervous, anxious, stressed, yet blessed.

She was reading peacefully on one of the steps led up to the back door in the garden, and he was watching her secretly with lavender violets in his hands. He didn't hold them too tightly for fear of ruining them.

Carlisle swore to God he didn't think of the idea of giving her violets as a friendly present at first. It was Edward who, for reasons unknown, had ordered lots and lots of different colors of violets, and put most of them in _his_ house. It was quite natural for him to come up with the thought as he saw the lovely, alluring flowers. And he chose the lavender violets which matched her beautiful brown eyes.

That explained why he was standing here with flowers and a heart beating so loudly he feared the whole London would hear that. Giving flowers to a lady wasn't that hard. He had once said to Edward. However it really was. He was terribly sorry he laughed as Edward paced and hesitated to give the freesias to Miss Swan.

Took a breath, one step forward, and she noticed his coming.

Miss Platt looked up at him; her face glowing. His breath caught as his blue and her brown locked. The softest color in the world made him spin. It seemed that she had a special talent for being more and more attractive every time he visited her.

"Mr. Cullen," she whispered in delight, put down the book on her lap.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted you," he said quietly.

"No, you didn't," she said smiling. Her eyes widened when she saw the flowers. "Are they violets?"

"Yes, they are." Carlisle couldn't help but chuckle as her eyes lit up. The gentle wind was blowing; the delicate violets were swaying in the breeze lightly. He went toward her slowly and carefully. She was still staring at the purple flowers in awe.

"They are beautiful," she commended.

_So are you._ He thought, swallowed hard before offering them. "And they are for you."

Miss Platt gasped soundlessly, tore her eyes away from the flowers to look at him. She tilted her head, looked confused but delighted. "Oh, Mr. Cullen, you do not have to..."

"Please accept them for they come to you with all my... " Carlisle paused awkwardly, and swiftly turned the upcoming word 'love' into another safe one, "with all my respect."

It seemed she didn't notice his stutter. Instead, the rose-like color on her cheeks deepened.

"...Thank you, Mr. Cullen. You're too kind." She murmured quietly and reached out her small hands to the flowers.

His heart burst with happiness when he saw her accepting his present. At that precious moment, wind around them was warmer than before. She was stroking the flowers fondly for a while until a colorful butterfly flew over to the fountain near them.

"...What were you reading?" asked Carlisle softly at last.

"Oh, it's...it's a book of Edward's" She stammered, her face reddened adorably. "He lent it to me yesterday."

Carlisle was quite surprised that the book Miss Platt held was Edward's old French textbook. He sighed inwardly. It only proved that Edward had no idea how to please ladies. There were so many books in the boy's library, and why did he choose and lend this boring book to her? What surprised him more was, it seemed Miss Platt was interested in it! Thousands of questions flew across his mind, and he could catch no one proper enough to ask her.

"Do you speak French?" He asked the safest question.

Miss Platt pondered the question for several seconds, and then grinned impishly.

"Bonjour monsieur Cullen. Comment allez-vous?" She teased, her accent was slightly strange but lovely.

"Très bien." Carlisle replied chuckling, "practice more and you'll speak well."

She smiled shyly. "Edward and Alice said if I have question, I can ask you..." She paused thoughtfully, to his surprise, her beautiful, fair face was decorated with blushes. She looked at him before quickly turning away, her fingers were playing with her necklace now. "I was...wondering...if you could teach me French..." The volume of her sweet voice became lower and lower and finally she trailed off.

For a moment, Carlisle was stunned beyond words. She asked him if he could be her private teacher. _What an tempting suggestion_. He opened his mouth trying to reply, yet frustratingly no sounds came out of it. Strangely, she looked even more nervous than he was.

"I'm sorry, it's very thoughtless of me for asking you - "

"No!" He interrupted firmly, and Miss Platt's eyes widened. Carlisle softened his own voice before speaking again, although the only one thing he wanted to do now was to cheer loudly. "No, not at all. I would love to."

She stared at him in disbelief, and then, she gave him the kind of smile making him dizzy.

He was pretty sure the _entertaining_ grin had returned to his face, since after he entered the house, his friend with newspapers in his hands gazed at him for a brief moment, and inquired why on earth was he grinning like that. Carlisle hesitated, sighing.

"I have promised Miss Platt to be her private teacher," he confessed, felt like a criminal now.

Edward raised his perfect eyebrow, but said nothing against the idea. Actually, he seemed quite pleased by what he said to him. Besides him, Alice bit her lips hard as if trying not to giggle. Slightly annoyed, Carlisle ignored them intentionally. And, with Edward's permission, he went toward the library Edward had once used before. He needed to do some preparation.

For now, all he could think about was the upcoming class with Miss Platt.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thanks for reading and hope you like it! I'd be glad to know what do you think about this chapter. :D  
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	3. White Envelope

**Color of Sunshine**

- All the characters belong to Stephenie Meyer -

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><p><em>.<em>

_White Envelope_

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Sitting in front of Edward's piano, Esme was performing the magic of music. Although Edward played much better than she did, it could do no harm using his instrument while the master was away. Her fingers touched the keys fluently, like a witch waved her wand and turned the boring room into a peaceful cottage near sea. Chopin's Nocturne in E flat OP.9 No.2 was the name of the magic, her favorite one.

The notes were night itself, she'd always thought. Every time she played it, or Edward played for her, she almost could see an image of her standing on a beach with starlit sky above her head.

Yet, things became a bit different lately.

Somehow, this nocturne reminded her of Carlisle Cullen – this thought made the melody go more slowly, almost like a lullaby. She smiled at the memories of them being alone together, which were very few, but she cherished them pretty much. Yes, Mr. Cullen had promised to teach her French, but he still needed to assist Edward in negotiating with other companies. He'd worked as Edward's assistant for years. So far, he only finished teaching her the French alphabet and simple greetings. Mr. Cullen apologized for that a million times, and Esme reassured him that she didn't mind at all a million times as well.

She really didn't. Because it meant she would meet him again.

He was so composed, peaceful and interesting, being with him made her feel nothing but content and happy. Sometimes Mr. Cullen would look at her with a mysterious smile, as soon as he knew she caught him staring, he would shyly duck his head and murmur his apology softly. She was amused by his gentleness and shyness.

Sometimes he just laughed at her strange French accent like an impish boy, and kindly corrected it afterward. Sometimes they would sit in Edward's study, and he seemed eager to tell her many interesting stories or his childhood memories if she asked curiously. Mr. Cullen was extremely good at telling stories, and Esme was proud to be his attentive listener.

He even was a master of playing the violin. She could hardly forget when she first heard him playing Romance in F accidentally. Unlike Carlisle himself, his music was quite passionate that it surprised her. The way he played… the way he touched the strings and the way he looked while playing…like he was confessing his love to a certain girl by the song.

She found the thought was quite disturbing. No, she found the _girl_ who might not exist was disturbing. What if…what if he had already fell in love with a girl? She cringed and put the possibility away.

Sighing, Esme stopped playing and shake her head slightly. She was acting weird recently, especially while Carlisle was around. She would be tongue-tied and burned every time he smiled, or just greeted her with his shy manners.

She knew exactly why.

If Mr. Cullen was too close to her, she would be torn between running away and standing here. It would make her day if she could meet him in the morning. While she was reading romances, her imagination would turn the main male and female characters' names into his and hers. Lately, she even began to imagine them taking a walk under beautiful twilight every evening, hand in hand, smiling at each other.

Having read so many poems and novels, she knew that the burning feeling she felt for him called _love_. She was in love with Carlisle Cullen. The terrifying truth made her bury her head in the hands. Her cheeks were burning. Being a girl who never fell in love before, Esme was helpless.

"It's not night yet, but you've already started to play nocturne?" Alice's voice came from behind.

Esme smiled weakly at her teasing words and looked down at the black and white keys.

"Mr. Platt sent you a letter, here," Alice said, waving the letter with a cheerful look. Esme froze; she quickly turned to look at her cousin. Alice was smiling. Esme knew that smile pretty well: a smile whenever she had a plan on teasing her brother in mind. She was baffled, but returned a smile anyway.

"My father?"

"Mm-hmm," Alice sang. She approached and gave the letter to her. Esme could see her father's deep blue handwriting from where she was sitting. Carefully, she reached out to receive it, and looked at Alice, who grinned innocently. "Is there any good news I missed?"

Alice shrugged carelessly and came to sit beside her. "I just met Mr. Whitlock at the front door. He said my brother and Carlisle will come home today," she grinned, eyes twinkling. "I suppose it is _very _good news, don't you think so?" She winked.

Esme tried not to blush, but failed hopelessly. Alice laughed at her reaction.

Ignoring the little fairy's merry laughs, Esme cautiously opened the envelope, she imagined the content of her father's letter might be full of anger.

However, after reading the long letter, she only felt stunned by it. Speechless actually. Apparently her father was not furious anymore; his choice of words showed his worry over her safety, and the reason was because…

"…Father wants me to go home," several moments later, she whispered. "he said that it is fine I rejected Charles' proposal, that he is not angry with me anymore," she said slowly with a sigh. Alice stared at her questioningly, and so she continued. "According to his letter, Rose ran away with a man named Emmett McCarty days ago. I think he's worried I would probably do the same thing if he pushes too hard," she smirked a little. As a shy girl she was, sometimes she was unexpectedly bold.

"Rose? You mean _Rosalie Hale?_" Alice widened her eyes. Esme nodded. She'd met her last summer once; Rosalie seemed anxious about something, and the girl opened her mouth but finally said nothing while Esme gently asked if something was bothering her.

Esme remembered Rosalie had said to her that her biggest dream was marrying a man who loved her and having a family with a house of kids, but she never imagined Rosalie would elope with a man one day.

"I can still hardly believe Rosalie Hale did that," Alice said thoughtfully, she frowned. "It is not a wise choice, after all."

Esme chuckled. "You know, hearing a girl who is never tortured by love say that is not persuasive."

"So _you've_ been tortured by love before?" Her cousin asked playfully. Esme stopped breathing; fortunately Alice changed the topic after a few seconds. The little fairy looked suddenly a little uneased as she began to speak again. "…You will go home, then?"

Sighing again, Esme did not answer Alice's question.

**.**

**~ ※ ~**

**.**

Mr. Cullen and Edward came home in the afternoon, both looked tired but happy. According to Edward, who was sitting in an armchair like a king had just won his glorious fight, they had earned a chance to cooperate with a leading automaker this morning.

Esme congratulated them sincerely. Edward looked satisfied, he put down his cup of tea and looked at her, smirked slightly. To which, Esme raised her eyebrows.

"I thought I would have to marry Mr. Thomas' daughter, or force Carlisle to marry her, to get this great chance. Glad neither Carlisle nor I have to do that," he said grinning.

Before Esme could say anything, Carlisle had already sighed in disagreement.

"Edward," the older man chided gently.

"My apology," her cousin grinned. "Of course I know very well that the saintly Carlisle Cullen is not interested in romantic relationship."

_He was not interested in romantic relationship. _Esme's stomach dropped.

"I'm afraid I have to disagree with you, my friend," Mr. Cullen said chuckling, and then he paused with a slightly terrified look on his face when he saw Alice smirk, and Edward cough like an old man did.

"Ah, anyone particular in mind, Carlisle?" Edward asked innocently.

Mr. Cullen was completely silent with fire-kissed cheeks for about one minute. He murmured something like "It's not an appropriate question" and "Why do you ask me?"

Edward sighed exaggeratedly. "Fine, fine, I shan't ask you this sort of question."

The blonde gentleman seemed relived, but Esme was not.

She knew that look so well; she was certain Mr. Cullen was probably...

"Esme received Mr. Platt's letter this morning," Alice's high pitch voice interrupted her thought.

Esme quickly looked up at the three in the living room; three pairs of eyes looked back at her.

"And?" Edward questioned worried.

She hesitated, and ducked her head again. "Father wants me to go home."

Someone gasped, but Esme was too anxious to recognize who did it. She knew they were waiting for her answer.

"...And I decide to obey him," she whispered.

With no doubts, Edward was the first one who protested loudly.

"Why?" He demanded.

"I've stayed here for two months, Edward, it's not polite to stay longer."

"Esme, what made you think like that? I don't care if - "

"Are you going to marry Charles Evenson?" To her surprise, Mr. Cullen's gentle voice interrupted Edward's loud assurance. Esme turned to look at him, he looked stunned, even paler than usual. Esme smiled, she knew as a gentleman he was, Carlisle Cullen would disagree with the idea of forcing a girl to marry someone she didn't love.

He was too kind. She was appreciated his concern.

"No,"she shook her head, "no, my father said he won't mention his proposal anymore. He and my mother are worried, and I shan't worry them."

Mr. Cullen raised from the cream-colored cushion, but she did, too. Before Edward could say anything else to convince her to stay, Esme excused herself and leave the living room for the guestroom.

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><p><strong>AN: I apologize that I didn't update it for a long time,the paper was and is killing me. I'm glad finally I got some time to write it again. Thank you for reading. I'll be appreciated to have your thought! :)**


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